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The Federal Times is reporting that in its final report, the CFC-50 Commission has made several recommendations to fix chronic problems afflicting the Combined Federal Campaign. According to the panel of experts tasked with improving the federal government's annual charity drive, the Campaign's "financing should be overhauled, collections should be expanded to federal and military retirees, and the campaign season should be extended a month."

The Obama Administration assembled the panel last year amid declining campaign receipts. According to the Federal Times,

Funds donated to CFC have declined each year since hitting an all-time high of $282.6 million in 2009, reaching $272.7 million in last year’s campaign. And while the average federal employee pledge has risen over the last 50 years — hitting $284.27 last year — the participation rate has steadily trended downward to 24 percent.

In its final report released last Friday, the commission stated that to arrest the decline, the Office of Personnel Management "must increase donor participation, strengthen the campaign’s infrastructure, and increase transparency and accountability."

These are honorable goals, but let's face reality: we are all facing difficult times and maybe, just maybe, charitable giving is not as important as it once was to Americans. A sign of the times....